Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I hope everyone had a great long weekend in the States and other areas that had bank holidays! I had a nice relaxing weekend, except it was mostly work and no play for me yesterday to get all of the new yarn ready to show you! Good thing I love it! I wanted to introduce a few new colorways again this week. I hope you enjoy them! Don't forget, if you live outside of the US, I do ship internationally!

Next week I should have new fingering weight in stock, so check back next Tuesday for those! Also, look out for the Candy Skein ad running in select group threads starting June 1 on Ravelry!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Happy Friday everyone! Let me tell you, my family needs the long holiday weekend to recuperate from last weekend. My husband and I (and even Milo my corgi) haven't been feeling well this week. I hope to just rest, relax and knit socks! I also want to thank all of you who ordered yarn this week from Candy Skein! Wow, you made my week! I had several orders so I've been busy going back and forth to the post office.

Okay, on to FO Friday. You have to promise not to laugh at the pictures though. Remember, I was in Palm Springs so I look all hot and sweaty as it was 95 degrees and we were in the sun all day. It was awesome to knit there (at Tiki Caliente, a tiki convention), as I got a lot of attention from it. I even met a girl who crochets and knits, but unfortunately, she doesn't live in my area, but her boyfriend does, so hopefully I'll get to meet her again. I finished knitting on Saturday morning, which meant I worked on the hair kerchief Friday evening before the sun went down. The great thing was, I was able to wear it both Saturday and Sunday and one lady even stopped to say she saw me knitting it and thought it looked great. :) It made me proud, even though it was a silly little project. It helped me meet people, which is good, because I'm pretty shy in person and don't feel very comfortable around a ton of people I don't know. Anyway, here it is! Please excuse the cup within a cup within a tiki mug. Also my weird 'I'm trying not to squint' expression. Also, I got tanner, I promise. LOL

Edit: I also forgot to mention that I crocheted the ties (which I added to the materials used now. Can you tell I wrote this post in a hurry?) because I could crochet them in about 2 minutes and knitting would have taken forever.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I hope everyone is having a great week! I had a great weekend, as I mentioned in my post yesterday, and even had some fun on Monday. We decided to come back from Palm Springs Sunday night instead of Monday morning, which almost made Monday feel like a free day. My husband took it off, thinking we'd still be out of town, so we went and had a nice breakfast and then went to see Pirates in the movie theater. We hardly EVER go to the movies because it's so expensive, so it was a real treat.

I apologize because this will be a boring WIPW for me, but it will be a fun FO Friday! I finished the hair kerchief and will share it on Friday in all it's glory, as long as you ignore how bad I look in the pictures. LOL

So, on to WIPW:

The good news is I have gotten further in this sock! The bad news is, I made a few weird mistakes, but luckily won't mess it up too much I don't think. I really like the way the yarn is knitting up, so that's nice. I'm just decreasing the gusset stitches at this point, so it's all downhill from here. I took the pic with it stretched over a drinking glass here in this pic, so excuse the weirdness of it.

This sock may look familiar, but it's because you may remember my finished one from a few Fridays ago. Yes, that's right, I'm making the SECOND SOCK OF THE PAIR. WOOT!!! So far so good, though I've just barely cast on.

Since it's late, and I want to knit a little more tonight, I'm going to wrap it up here. Have a great day everyone!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. Thanks!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Happy Tuesday all! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I had a great time in Palm Springs, but it's awesome to be home. I'm excited to show you three new colorways, plus a new one to lace weight. I thought it would be cool to release new yarn in weights, so this week is lace, and next week is worsted weight. Remember, for my international friends, I do ship everywhere! I hope you all enjoy the fun new colors!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Happy Friday everyone! As I mentioned Wednesday, I'll be out of town starting today, so won't be able to get to all of your FO posts until I get back on Monday (or probably Tuesday since I'll have to write my Tuesday post when I get home Monday night).

Sadly, I don't have an FO to share. I had planned to share my hair kerchief, but I haven't finished it yet. I thought I would get a lot of knitting done this week at my meet up, but it was canceled this week and rescheduled for next Tuesday. I was going to push on it today (Thursday), but I had to do silly things like clean house and laundry. So, I will share it next week, hopefully with pictures of me actually wearing it on vacation! YAY!

Just as a teaser...I'll be releasing 4 skeins of lace weight yarn on Tuesday! Three new colorways and a colorway that seems to be quite popular. :) I have to say, the new ones are so pretty, I'm having a hard time parting with them. Until then, have a great weekend everyone!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Happy Wednesday! It's cold and rainy in Southern California, but that's okay for me, as I'm heading to Palm Springs this weekend. This cool weather will make the hot desert bearable, which is a nice surprise!

Since we're going to the desert and I just got a haircut (a severe haircut, chopping off about an average of 6 inches), I thought I would make the hair kerchief that someone had in last week's WIPW (sorry, I don't remember who at the moment!). I just bought two new bathing suits for the trip that have teals and blues/purples, so when I found this cotton in my stash, I knew it would be perfect for it. So far I like the way the yarn is pooling, except for the large white spot in the middle.

I haven't had too much time to work on my sock, but I finished the ribbing and am working on the heel flap. I decided to do the partridge eye version (I think that's what it's called), since I did the standard heel flap on my other sock.

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. Thanks!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

After the popularity of the skein of yarn I showed for Dyeing for Fun Part 17 and my socks that I recently started, I decided to dye another skein of what I used to call Black Magic, but now call Blackberry. Each time I dye with black and break the dye, it looks different. This time, the tonal aspect is a little more even than my first skein. The underlying color is black and gray, but has heathered tones of purple and green. In my opinion, the pictures don't do the yarn justice, as it has trouble picking up the hidden colors in the skein.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. I'm sorry this post wasn't up earlier, but Blogger crashed and burned. Let me tell you, I've been refreshing the "New Post" page for the past 24 hours, hoping it will come back up. Doesn't blogger realize I need to share my FIRST SOCK!? You don't take blogger down in times like this. Geez.

I used two different sized needles so that the ribbing would be tight. I will say, I did have an issue with transferring to the next size up when it was time because I knit SO TIGHT. I love love love my first sock. I can't wait to make the mate. :) I love the look of the heel flap and turn, but hate the toe, as it changed colors on me just as I did the kitchner stitch (which I hate btw).

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Happy Wednesday everyone! I'm watching my nieces again today, so won't be able to comment on all of the WIPW submissions until later in the day. I hope you are having a great week. After my long post yesterday, I don't have a ton to say, so I'll keep it short today.

Remember the ripple blanket I'm working on? Well, I figured I wouldn't show you the normal pic of it because it looks the same but bigger. I thought instead, you'd enjoy this picture. For those of you who follow my Twitter, you saw me post it on Monday night. One of my cats Roxy was caught red handed as I woke her up from laying on the blanket. See that brown piece of yarn? Yep, it's in her mouth, stuck under her lip. She fell asleep sucking on it and woke up and didn't realize it was still in her mouth.

Now, you're probably saying to yourself, wasn't her sock pink, white, green, black and purple and didn't it stripe a little? Why yes, yes it did. You are probably thinking of this sock. I finished the first sock, but didn't want to share it today because I plan to cheat. See, I'm going to use the 1st completed sock as a FO this week for Friday because I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT. I must admit, as dumb as this makes me, I was wearing it the other night after I finished it, along with a different sock on the other foot, just because I wanted to bask in its glory. This new sock was started for a few reasons.

Reason #1 (which is the main reason): I thought it would be weird to be sitting at the craft fair selling my own yarn but using a different brand. If anyone were to ask (and they did ask what I was knitting), I could tell them it was one of MY yarns. Makes sense, right?

Reason #2: I'm a little afraid to start the 2nd sock. You see, I wanted to make sure that it wasn't a fluke, that I could really start another sock that looks like a sock (or a sock cuff in this instance). Why did I not just prove I could make another using the other yarn so that I could then start on the pair? Well, I didn't want any problems I had taint it. Crazy, I know. The only problem I have now is that I need to finish this ribbing (which I'm going to go down to the heel flap with, again, I'm winging it) before starting on the 2nd sock of the other pair because I've been doing the ribbing one needle size smaller and I only have this one needle. Not that I mind.

You may remember the yarn I'm using for it as this skein. I originally called it Black Magic, but have since changed the name to Blackberry. In fact, I thought this skein was so pretty, not only did I keep it for myself and start on a project right away, I also dyed my last skein of un-dyed fingering in black as well. The skein is still drying, but once it's ready, it will be up on the Candy Skein website. I will say, the one drying is much more even in color and a lot darker. It's almost a purpley black. Very very pretty. :) Don't you love the way it's knitting up?

Okay, I said this would be short, but it turned out to be rather wordy. I apologize for that!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. Thanks!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

It's been a week since my launch of Candy Skein and I wanted to thank those who have been so nice in all the great comments I've received and also the ones that have placed orders! You are all so awesome, seriously.

As I mentioned in my original announcement post of Candy Skein, my friend and crochet meet up partner, Sharon (check out her awesome Amis and patterns at Ami Amour) was kind enough to let me tag along and share her table at the Queen Bee Craft Market. I was so excited just to get the Candy Skein name out there. I didn't have any expectations going in, as it was a craft fair where people are usually there to buy finished items, not skeins of yarn. To my surprise, there was some interest and I even sold a few skeins. Even MORE exciting, one of the great ladies who purchased one of the skeins cast on right away and added her project to the Candy Skein Ravelry page . I can't wait to see how it knits up, as it was one of my favorite colorways (Blueberry Cheesecake).

Here are a few pictures from the event. Excuse the people behind in the pictures that are still setting up their booths, but we took these before the event started. Anyway, as you can imagine, it was awesome to see all of the yarn together in one place on display.

This is me, standing behind all of the pretty yarn. See how I have one side of my shirt statistically folded over? That's because I am a huge klutz and not only did I rip the skin off my knuckle, but somehow ended up getting blood on my shirt before I realized I hurt myself. It seriously never fails. You can't take me anywhere without me hurting myself in some way. In good news (as I do love this vintage shirt which I call my zookeeper shirt), the blood came out!

Here is a closer picture of all the yarn together. PRETTY!

And here is our booth. Unfortunately, I didn't get a great picture after Sharon put out more of her amis, though I did get better close ups, but thought the whole booth would be fun to see.

Now on to yarn news...

Today I ordered more un-dyed yarn, so in the next few weeks, look for new colorways of lace, dk, sport and worsted. Fingering weight will be not too far behind. I just need to sell a few more skeins to pay for a large batch I buy them in (10 skeins at a time). In the meantime, I thought I would share pictures of a few of the skeins that I just added to the Candy Skein shop that I dyed for the craft market that didn't sell. You can find all of these yarns at the Candy Skein website and the Candy Skein Artfire store.

About Me

I started crocheting in December '09 and creating amigurumi around March of '10. I've taken on knitting, starting in November of '10. I'm seriously addicted to buying yarn and all things crochet. I'm the owner of the indie dyed yarn company, Candy Skein